"My single greatest priority as governor is to protect the safety and well being of all Californians. High risk sex offenders pose a threat to public safety and we must take every necessary step to eliminate that threat," said Schwarzenegger. "Each of these laws will help make our state safer and make it tougher on the predators who want to create victims out of innocent Californians."
Senate Bill 1178 requires high-risk sex offenders (HRSOs) to be fitted with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) devices and monitored by local law enforcement, making a successful pilot program a permanent tool for law enforcement to better track and catch sexual predators on parole who may be committing or planning subsequent crimes.
Senate Bill 1128 enhances penalties and implements new laws for registered sex offenders, including punishing continuous child sexual abuse by an automatic 25-year-to-life prison sentence, making possession of pornography depicting children a felony in some cases, discouraging plea bargains for violent sex offenders, and including youth recreational facilities in addition to schools when restricting access for sex offenders. Among the bill's many provisions, it also requires every person required to register as a sex offender to be subject to assessment using the State-Authorized Risk Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders, a tool widely recognized by experts and used by law enforcement.
